Colleges face competition for dwindling Ohio high school grads, look outside state

Local colleges cling to Northeast Ohio’s pool of potential students, but federal education predictions showing a decline in Ohio’s high school graduation rate have prompted a more careful examination of external student populations.
In a February the National Center for Education Statistics released its report “Projections of Education Statistics to 2022.” While the overall number of public high school graduates is projected to be higher in 2022-23 than in 2009-10, 16 states — including Ohio — and the District of Columbia are expected to have a high school graduation rate five or more percent less than in 2009-10.
“It is one of our challenges, and that’s why we have expanded out to other markets as well as Ohio, but our enrollment has not decreased,” said Beth Ford, dean of enrollment at Notre Dame College in South Euclid. “We’re of course feeling (the reduction in Ohio grads), but we’re trying new initiatives to make sure we continue to thrive.”
NDC has a full-time undergraduate population of 1,405, and a total enrollment of 2,250, which includes part-time students, graduate students and students in the online program, said Brian Johnston, chief communications officer for the college.
The core of NDC’s students hail from Ohio, but the student body represents 24 states and 18 countries.
“From an LEC perspective, we draw a lot of out-of-state students for our equine studies program, and our sports teams draw many of our international students,” said Stephen Lazowski, vice president for enrollment management and financial aid at Lake Erie College in Painesville. “We’re increasing (those populations), but our bread and butter, and the majority of our students, are from Ohio.”
Admissions officers at Ursuline College in Pepper Pike say competition for local students is increasing.
“The majority of our students are from the greater Cleveland area. We have about 1,500 students total, with a little under 1,000 undergrads,” said Stephanie Ratkovich, an assistant dean of admissions at Ursuline. “For our recruitment, we try to be very strategic where we should be doing a lot of outreach. We’re certainly seeing more competition in greater Cleveland and it is something we need to move forward with to find the areas to best reach outside students.”
At Lorain County Community College in Elyria, partnerships with local schools provide a unique view into the problem of fewer Ohio students graduating high school.
“We have a closer look at this trend because of our work with kindergarten through 12th grades,” said Tracy A. Green, vice president of Strategic and Institutional Development at Lorain County Community College. “We know our community needs a higher number of students who attain higher education. As we look at a lower number of students coming out of K through 12, we need a higher percentage of them attending and completing college.”
To instill a relationship with higher education at a younger age, LCCC is reaching into lower grades through technology camps and encouraging students as early as ninth grade to earn college credits. This early involvement can lead to high school students earning associates degrees.
Lorain County ranks about average in terms of students who graduate from high school and go on to college, Green said. But the number of people with college degrees in Lorain County historically has been lower than the national average because the traditional employment base in manufacturing did not require a college degree.
“We need to be better than the national average to catch up,” Green said. “Once students enroll we’re also investing in their success while they’re here. We help them develop academic plans, and map out what their education path is so they can see the finish line, and then connecting them with local employers so they can link their education and their career.”
Though the federal predictions have high school graduation rates falling regionally, higher education institutions, especially private schools like Notre Dame College, Lake Erie College and Ursuline College, are expected to see an increase in matriculation.
Nationally, enrollment in postsecondary degree-granting institutions increased 45 percent from 1997 to 2011, according to the report from the National Center for Education Statistics. That trend is projected to continue with enrolment set to increase 14 percent from 2011to 2022.
Breaking it down further, public postsecondary degree-granting institutions saw a 35 percent increase in enrollment between 1997 and 2011, while private schools saw a whopping 78 percent increase during that same time period.
Regardless of in-state or out-of-state status, growing Lake Erie College’s population is about getting the school’s name out there, Lazowski said. Combining graduate and undergraduate students, LEC has about 1,100 students.
“For us, it’s more about establishing who we are and make sure everyone is aware of our brand. We’re always looking for opportunities in and out of Ohio,” he said. “It would not be prudent of us to not travel out of state.”
Johnston said one aspect of NDC that sets it apart from other local private colleges is that more than 50 percent of its population are first generation college students, and 28 percent of its students are categorized as minority students.
“In a large extent we are a first generation college. Notre Dame College is a very diverse school,” he said. “Ninety-eight percent (of students) receive aid in some shape or form. The mission we have is to serve the under served to the best of our ability.”
Facing a competitive market, Lazowski said a main goal is always to maintain the amount of students. Right now, an LEC incoming freshman class is bringing in anywhere from 250 to 275 students.
“We could probably handle around 300 up to 325 for an incoming freshman class,” he said. “We probably couldn’t take over 325, but that would be a nice problem to have.”
Johnston, with NDC, said the college has gone through phenomenal enrollment growth in the last 10 to 11 years, and is currently sitting at a good number for the facilities and space of the school.
“If you look at our history, before 2001 we used to be an all women’s college. In 2003 we had about 300 full-time students,” said Ford, NDC’s dean of enrollment. “We’ve grown to our current level. We have rolling admission. Students can apply even the week before classes begin. Our next enrollment class will be around 470 students.”
While colleges and universities look to pick up grads fresh from high school, another population to consider is transfer students.
NDC’s next class is expected to have around 100 transfer students starting in the fall, Ford said.
Like NDC, Ursuline College also accepts on a rolling admissions basis, so final enrollment numbers for the next year aren’t yet finalized, however, the current incoming student body is roughly half transfer students, Ratkovich said.
“Since we are very different being a women’s college, we have a lot of those students that have those ‘a-ha moments’ where they don’t consider us at the time (when they first enroll) just because of being unaware that we’re here down the street and around the corner.”

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